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She had wondered, for years, what was the strange creature carved into the woodwork of her 17th century cottage.

Endless research and requests to experts had revealed nothing. Then, a chance visit to the Five Rivers Leisure Centre set her on her way to the answer.

It was there that she saw this:

City Story: Historic Past, Creative Future was a museum HLF funded project led by our own Katy England, with young people taking part in afterschool clubs, Saturday workshops for young carers and sessions for schools and colleges at the museum.

The 11 – 18 year olds had been working with inspiring local artists to explore the extraordinary objects in the museum’s Salisbury History and Costume collections.

A young man involved with the project had chosen the museum figure of the Harpy for his inspiration and produced the remarkable image we see above.

The lady spotted the print and knew immediately it was her strange creature. She sent this email to the museum:

I recently visited the Leisure Centre in Salisbury and noticed a picture in the reception area which is part of the City Art Project run by Salisbury Museum. I live in a listed cottage in Tisbury (circa 1620) and have a figure on an old door which is exactly like one of the figures in one of the pieces of work in the leisure centre. I have tried for years to identify this figure and all sorts of experts (including the listed buildings team, experts on historic buildings, experts from Devizes, local historians, internet searches etc) have failed to recognise it, saying that they have never seen anything like it before. I hope I have attached a picture of my figure which is only a few centimetres in height and is pinned onto an ancient door. The picture in the leisure centre is an exact replica and looks like some sort of lino print – bright yellow.

Can you help me find what the artist’s source of inspiration was? I presume that it is some object in the museum. Brigid Budd

The mystery was solved! Katy replied with this email:

I have some information for you on the artefact in the museum that closely resemblesthe figure on your cottage door.

It was originally thought to be a representation of St Michael, but when Brian Spencer (the expert who wrote up The Salisbury Museum catalogue) examined the object in 1986 he identified it as the following:

“Decorative pin or badge in the form of a grotesque, probably derived from the harpy, a mythological monster with the head and breast of a woman and the wings and claws of a bird of prey. Though the harpy was often associated with evil, it was used in heraldry as a form of decoration. Combination of brass pin and lead alloy ornament seems to have been a 16th century practice (Brian Spencer, 1986).”

I have mentioned your story to Peter Saunders (the previous director of The Salisbury Museum and an expert in the Salisbury History collection) and Peter has suggested that if the image was attached to a door, it may have been put there as a talisman to ward off evil trying to enter. Also, it fits the date of your cottage!

Katy arranged for the lady to have a framed print of the Harpy and, in return, the museum received a generous donation and Katy enjoyed the gift of a most delicious carrot cake!

Regarding Middleton’s role in the eradication of cholera from the city in 1849, this has been well-documented elsewhere in easily-accessible places, for example, John Chandler’s book, Endless Street, and so there is no need to repeat it here. Suffice it to say that in 1859 Salisbury was the worst affected town for its size in the country, with nearly 200 people dying from the disease in just two months, and the infirmary receiving 1300 new cases during this time. This was a consequence of the manner in which the city evolved.

In 1219, the inhabitants of Old Sarum moved down into the valley near to the confluence of three rivers, now known as the Avon, Wylye and Nadder, where Bishop Poore began building a new Cathedral in a field known as Merrifield.

The new city itself, known as New Sarum began to be laid out to the north of the Cathedral.

The land was sectioned out into rectangular plots measuring seven perches by 3 perches, thus forming the grid pattern, known as ‘chequers’, with which we’re familiar today.

The city covered an area of about one-fifth of a square mile, and consisted of about 20 streets, crossing each other at regular intervals at right angles to each other. This anticipated the street pattern of modern American cities by several centuries and contrasted with other medieval cities in Britain, such as London or York.

The city itself is situated on the east bank of the River Avon about 140 feet above the mouth of the Avon at Christchurch, some 30 miles away.

Many open streamlets ran through the city and the street now called New Canal commemorates just one of these channels, which were used as receptacles for household waste and sewerage. Speed’s map of 1611 shows them in almost all the streets west of the line comprising St Edmund’s Church Street and Gigant Street.

An illustration of Silver Street within the Drainage Collection carries a caption quoting Celia Fiennes (1685) as describing the streets of Salisbury as, “not so clean or so easy to pass in”. Daniel Defoe in his ‘A Tour through the whole island of Great Britain, by a gentleman [D.Defoe]’ (1748) went further, commenting that, “the streets were always dirty and full of wet, filth, and weeds, even in summer”.

It was perhaps because of the extreme difficulties of keeping the streets clean that Salisbury became the first provincial town in England to have powers of improvement granted to a special authority, called ‘directors of highways’, by an Act of 1737. This caused the streets to be improved by moving the channels to one side and making brick beds for them, so that the traffic could pass unimpeded, and bridges could be made for pedestrians1. Indeed, the Market Square itself had three bridges.

Andrew Bogle Middleton believed strongly that the 1849 cholera epidemic was due to moisture and the canals, and therefore undertook to introduce a new system of water-supply and drainage. His proposals were met with such great opposition that the Mayor and councillors would not allow the Board of Health inspector, Thomas Rammell, to hold his inquiry in the Guildhall, and so it was eventually held in the Assembly Rooms, at the corner of New Canal with the High Street. The results of Rammell’s enquiry were published in 1851.

Middleton’s ideas held sway and the open streams and sewers were replaced with tubular sewers in around 1852. The last channel to be filled, in 1875, was the deep one in New Canal. This is commemorated by the Blue Plaque which now adorns the New Canal wall of the building currently occupied by Waterstones, but which was once the Salisbury Assembly Rooms (see Figure 1).

Memorials in the Cathedral

Less prominent among the artifacts concerning A.B.Middleton in Salisbury are those in the Cathedral. These are a stained glass window and a stone memorial.

The stained glass memorial window to A.B. Middleton is in the north east corner of the north west transept of Salisbury Cathedral (Figure 4). The theme, as one would expect, is water.

Figure 4. Stained glass memorial window

The upper panel shows the biblical King Hezekiah who cut the Siloam tunnel to provide Jerusalem with a water supply, and proclaims

King Hezekiah brought water into the city

as recorded in II Kings 20:20 and II Chronicals 32:30.

The lower panel shows Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well at Sychar, in Samaria, as recorded in John 4:5-6 and states

A well of water springing up into everlasting life

The foot of the window bears Middleton’s name, stating

To the Glory of God and loving memory of Andrew Bogle Middleton born Oct 8th 1819: died Dec 13th, 1879

There is also a memorial plaque about half way along the north cloister walk

(Figure 5), reading

“In memory of Sarah Ann Louisa, wife of A.B.Middleton and daughter of the late Henry Coates of this city, died April 29 1872, aged 59 years and of the above Andrew Bogle Middleton who died Dec 13 1879 aged 60 years

Figure 5. Memorial plaque

It is worth noting that bacteria were not discovered until 1864 (Pasteur) and the causative organism of cholera, the bacterium Vibrio cholerae was not discovered until 1884 (Koch).

Middleton’s work preceded that of the famed John Snow who, in 1853, realised that cases of cholera in London were clustered around a water pump in Broad Street, and recommended to the local Board of Guardians that the handle be removed. This ended the local epidemic and provided proof that cholera was water-borne.

Middleton Road

To date, this author has been unable to find documented evidence that Middleton Road in Salisbury is named after A.B.Middleton. However, an acquaintance of mine, Mr. David Brown tells me that his uncles, Arthur, Tom, Alf and Ernest once owned a large part of Middleton Road – the section west of York Road towards the gas works; and assures me that this is how he became aware that Middleton Road is, in fact, named after A.B. Middleton.

The author is much indebted to Alan Clark of this museum who has directed me to his website concerning Salisbury Blue Plaques, from which I derived much helpful information.

I was intrigued to notice that, within Salisbury, there are two prominent artifacts concerning one Andrew Bogle Middleton. The first is a Blue Plaque at the junction of New Canal with High Street (currently the wall of Waterstones) which credits Middleton with having rid the city of cholera in the mid-19th Century (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Blue Plaque commemorating A.B.Middleton

The second is a clock in The Salisbury Museum with the inscription that it was ‘The Gift of A.B.Middleton Esq, A.D. 1860’.

Figure 2. Clock in The Salisbury Museum

An information board adjacent (Figure 3) states that this clock was from the Market House, Salisbury and that not only did A.B. Middleton set up the Salisbury Railway and Market House Company, but he was also associated with the Museum, which was founded in 1860.

It is difficult to believe that, given the dates, these are not one and the same person.

Given, as stated on the information board, that Middleton was also associated with the Museum when it was founded in 1860 (presumably in connection with the Drainage Collection – the first collection acquired by the Museum), it is surprising that the Museum does not make explicit the connection of this A.B. Middleton with the man responsible for the eradication of cholera within the city, and link it with the Drainage Collection, which is housed in a separate room!

That, therefore, is the purpose of this blog.

Regarding the clock, this once graced the Market House, a building constructed to the west of the Market Place, in the place now occupied by Market Walk and the Public Library. This was the culmination of a need to erect accommodation for the buyers and sellers of agricultural produce. There had been much wrangling over a suitable site for such a building, including sites in and around the present Market Square, considered at the time to be the finest in the West of England.

Eventually the site proposed by A.B. Middleton was agreed upon and the new Market House eventually opened in May 1859.

The great advantage of the location proposed by Middleton was that a railway could be built directly from the Market House to link with the Great Western and South Western lines at Fisherton. Indeed, both narrow gauge and broad gauge lines were laid down to connect with the South Western line, enabling cattle and merchandise to be sent by any of the four railways which served the city.

The clock itself was fixed to the far end of a balcony that ran round three sides of the building. It is 62 inches high and 48 inches wide. The dial is a convex copper sheet secured to a wooden frame. Access to the mechanism is from behind, and thus requires no hole in the face for a winding key.

All but the façade of the Market House was demolished in the late 1970s to build the new Salisbury Public Library.

Alan writes “Regarding the Old Sarum tunnel, the museum has 51 of Austin’s photographs concerning the tunnel…Austin Underwood himself is in some of the photos!”

Notice the graffiti from decades before. Notice also the dowser or diviner, with his ‘Y’ shaped branch. Diviners have been used to search for water, graves, mines and tunnels over the ages. As recently as the 1960s the US army used them to seek out the enemy underground in Vietnam. Presumably this gentleman was employed to try and follow the line of the Old Sarum tunnel under the walls.

If any local readers have any stories about these events, we should love to hear from you.

Exhibition at Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre and Wessex Gallery Showcase

The City Story: Historic Past, Creative Future project has been a great success with young people taking part in afterschool clubs, Saturday workshops for young carers and sessions for schools and colleges at the museum.

The 11 – 18 year olds have been working with inspiring local artists to explore the extraordinary objects in the museum’s Salisbury History and Costume collections.

They have learnt new skills in a variety of techniques including ceramics, printing, glass and painting with light on the museum’s unique Coo Var Glow Wall.

The museum has also been working with fashion and textile students from Wiltshire College to create a range of textile items inspired by the collections.

In October, an exhibition opened at the Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre in Salisbury to celebrate the work of those taking part in the afterschool clubs as well as the project with Wiltshire College. The display shows the amazing art work that has been created by the young people.

The work of the young carers who have taken part in the programme of Saturday workshops at the museum is also being celebrated in the Wessex Gallery Showcase at the museum. A vibrant selection of the ceramics, textile and 2d art that has been created by these talented young people will be on display in the museum until January 2018.

City Story: Historic Past, Creative Future has been generously supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund Young Roots Grant.

Our own Katy England has been leading this project, with help from local artists and from a small group of Volunteers. Thanks and congratulations to all involved.

This story has been revived for us by Volunteer Alan Crooks who was, in turn, reminded of it on the recent SALOG visit to Old Sarum.

These are notes taken after reading a Salisbury Journal article by Austin Underwood, dated October 13 1988.

This blog is written on the 60th anniversary of the rediscovery of the tunnel (November 1957) by Austin Underwood and others.

Site of collapse over part of tunnel today. Photo by Alan Crooks.

The tunnel was originally discovered in 1795, running from the outer bailey into the countryside on the north side of the site. Severe weather had caused a collapse near the sealed up entrance. Although the local farmer tried to discourage visitors, it became well known for a while and was much visited but was again sealed and largely forgotten until the 1950s when a group of local historians discovered it again.

The description in the Salisbury Journal article of that 1957 find is almost as exciting as that of Carter’s breaking through into Tutankhamun’s tomb. The men crawled in to the tiny entrance to the tunnel, despite their wives’ pleas not to, and in a way that health and Safety simply would not allow today.

They discovered a tunnel which was 7 feet wide in places. It was full of two hundred year old grafitti – much the same as any you would see today, reports Austin Underwood. After walking in for 57 feet they could go no further. Further exploration or conservation was out of the question as funds are never available.

The purpose of the tunnel, and indeed, who built it, is not known. It could have been a sally port (allowing defenders to exit secretly and come up behind the attackers) or simply somewhere from which the castle’s inhabitants could retreat). It might have been built in Roman or Norman times, probably not earlier.

The second part of Shannan’s moving piece about the Terry Pratchett: HisWorld exhibition…

It’s hard to pick the stand out pieces in the exhibit because there were just too many. I was overjoyed to see Terry’s hat. Terry’s hat! There it was, in a glass case. I was centimetres from it. The recreation of his office was brilliant. I loved seeing the six computer monitors and the cat bed cut in to the desk. It was amazing to hear a woman gasp as she saw one of the crocheted Terry dolls she had made sitting on the bookshelf.

I marvelled at all of Paul Kidby’s paintings and drawings. What fascinated me most about seeing these artworks up close is just how much detail you can soak in. You can see every brush stroke, every pencil line, even the fibres in the canvas. I picked up so many details that I’ve never noticed before when looking at the prints in The Art of Discworld by Paul Kidby. I never noticed that Death was carrying kitten in his robe as he rode out with the other horsemen of the apocalypse. Another show stopper was the fact that some of these paintings were gigantic. Some took up entire walls. Again, when you’re only used to seeing them on pages of an art book or prints on a greeting card to see them in real life, in actual size, is mind boggling.

Pieces that pulled at the heart were the pieces that highlighted Terry’s plight with Alzheimer’s. The test sheets show how his ability to see, read, write and draw was deteriorating. Not far from these sheets was the destroyed hard drive that held unfinished Discworld novels. Personally, I was happy to read that it was destroyed in line with his wishes. It also meant that the Discworld is now complete. It’s nice to know that whatever stories Terry had planned are for him to keep. No other author is going to take those ideas and try to continue the series. Discworld without Terry is like a decadent cake without the chocolate ganache icing; and where’s the fun in eating that?

With Paul and Rob

It was the most amazing experience to meet Rob and Paul. They were so lovely and so generous of their time. Rob even offered me his seat so I could give Paul a closer look at my sleeve. They signed my museum book and the Granny Weatherwax notebook my mum bought me for my 30th birthday that I was using as my travel journal. I was also lucky to get a few photos.

I was at the museum from 10am and didn’t leave until well after 3pm. The exhibition was absolutely incredible and the whole team at Salisbury Museum are so lovely and really looked after me.

Salisbury Museum

View from Old Sarum

Stonehenge

Roman Baths at Bath

Wincanton

Tower Bridge London

After leaving Salisbury and a packed tour of brilliant museums in London, I joined a tour that took us through parts of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Wales. As much as I loved the tour I found there was too much time on the bus and not enough time exploring. So, I now think of the tour as a ‘taster’ and have made notes of places I’d like to visit again with more time. Most of all I loved the history and lush green landscape. The country towns were adorable and it was brilliant to be able to walk through them. I loved walking over the cobbled streets and seeing buildings that are older than Australia’s colonisation.

I had a wonderful time in the UK. I achieved more than I ever thought I would and the experiences I’ve had will never be forgotten. Some people say that you “find” yourself when you travel. I don’t think that I found myself but I did learn that even with the depression, the anxiety and OCD, I really can do anything and I can do it all by myself.

In February 2017, a documentary was aired detailing the life of my favourite author; Sir Terry Pratchett. Little did I know that after the airing of “Terry Pratchett: Back in Black” that a special announcement would be made. Fans were being given a wonderful gift; an insight in to Terry’s life and this gift was being presented as an exhibition at the Salisbury Museum.

To consider myself a fan is a bit of an understatement; to be frankly honest, Terry’s writing saved my life. I was already a fan of the Discworld and had read through the series a number of times. I live with depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Whilst I live with these conditions I manage them well and am considered high functioning. I’ve even been able to go without medication for a few years now and keep myself on track with regular visits to my psychologist and GP.

An event 5 years ago triggered a relapse and my world crashed down around me. I was so down and the world was bleak, bland and in my mind, tomorrow didn’t exist. I would stare out my window for hours waiting for the time to pass or I passed the time by sleeping. When thought finally made its way through the thick and sticky emotions I was feeling at the time I was able to make one small decision; read. Go back to the Disc and just read. With each page I was able to make a reconnect with myself even if it wasn’t for long. The series kept me going, and again being frankly honest, stopped me from “checking out”.

I have so much love for the Disc and its characters, that I have a full tattoo sleeve dedicated to it. All my favourite characters from Samuel Vimes to Granny Weatherwax to Death. I estimate between 50 and 54 hours of tattoo time was spent creating my Discworld sleeve. My sleeve is an ode and dedication to Terry, to his Discworld and to his characters. As well as to Paul Kidby and his amazing artwork. The characters mean much to me and my own world that I need them with me, always. If I’m having a bad day I can look down and smile and also be reminded of each character’s strengths.

So the announcement was made, ‘Terry Pratchett: HisWorld’ was coming to the Salisbury Museum in September 2017. Originally, I pushed it aside as a little pipe dream. Curiosity took hold when my mum showed me the Facebook post about the exhibition. Opening day was 7 months away. I started looking at flights. I knew that if I put all the savings I already had and cut back on a few spending habits that the trip was doable. The next day I went in to work and submitted my annual leave form. I had 5 weeks of annual leave available and hadn’t had a proper holiday in years. I asked for 4 weeks and they said no – the company had a new client coming on board and they didn’t know what to expect. After a bit of back and forth I was able to get two weeks leave approved.

When I was evaluating my life and the trip, what I wanted to see, do and experience, I realised that I wouldn’t be able to do this with two weeks of annual leave. I was coming from a coastal suburban town about an hour south of Melbourne, Australia. That’s almost 17,000kms (10,500 miles) and a few thousand Australian dollars. Our conversion rate isn’t very strong against the British Pound (we’re currently sitting at 59 pence for every Aussie Dollar) so if I was going to spend the money for an adventure of a lifetime I was going to spend it well! So I resigned from my job of almost 6 years and decided to extend my trip to the four weeks I originally requested.

The plane journey was nice enough; let’s face it, no one likes being cooped up in a small space without much leg room. My flight left from Melbourne around 9.40pm on Wednesday 13 September. The first leg of the journey was about 14 hours. A short stopover in Doha and I was on another plane bound for London. Another 7 and a half hours and I arrived in London at 12pm on Thursday 14 September.

Jet lag had hit me pretty hard that day. Not only was I tired but I was also a bit dizzy. It felt like the earth was moving from under my feet. I was up every hour or so that night and I was in a very noisy part of town. The night was filled with the sounds of trains and, this surprised me the most, emergency sirens. All night. It seemed like as soon as one stopped another would start. Because these sirens sound different to the ones at home and I didn’t know which siren was which. It made me feel very scared and unsafe. I hadn’t been there for very long at all and I was already feeling very uneasy about London.

First stop London

And then to Salisbury

My fears were heightened the next morning when I awoke to a message from my mum asking me where I was and if I was ok. The Parsons Green terror attack had just occurred. At that time it was being broadcast as an ‘incident’ with more information to come. I spent my time trying to find any information I could but everything was quite vague. I wasn’t keen to be catching a train an hour or so after I heard the news. Thankfully though, my train was still running and I was on my way to Salisbury.

The national rail trains are quite nice. I was super impressed that it had free Wifi. I was able to keep in touch with my mum and other friends who had heard about the London attack. I was surprised to see a snacks cart come through the carriages. We do have national rail services but because Australia is so large most people opt to go on a scenic road trip or fly. The journey was about an hour and half – this is about the same time it takes for me to get to Melbourne from my home town.

The day I arrived I went in search of the museum. I wanted to make sure I knew exactly where I was going because the next day was opening day and I did not want to get lost! Walking through the town on my way to the museum I came to the Cathedral. Oh my goodness! I had to crane my neck just to see the top. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a structure of that magnitude before. It just towers over you with its brilliance!

Opening day finally arrived! Months of planning and saving and it was finally here. I arrived a few minutes before opening and there were already a few people waiting in line. Rob Wilkins officially opened the exhibition. We passed through the museum shop and in to the exhibition. Seeing the His World entrance artwork which I believe is the cover art of the Terry Pratchett’s Imaginarium artwork book coming out in November was so exciting. I was about to cross the threshold in to HisWorld. I was going to see things that belonged to Terry. I was going to see a recreation of his office. I was going to see original artwork by Paul Kidby and Josh Kirby. I was going to be in super fan heaven! And I most certainly was.

A number of Volunteers, being Salisbury people or, indeed, retired teachers who trained here, will have known the museum buildings when they were the heart of a teacher training establishment.

The College of Sarum St Michael, or the Diocesan Training College, Salisbury as it was originally known, was set up in 1841 and moved into the King’s House in 1851. It closed as a teacher training facility in 1978 and two ex-students, Jenny Head and Anne Johns, co-wrote an excellent book about it, published in 2015 and available in the museum shop. Their research formed the basis of a talk, too, given at the museum last week.

Jenny and Anne used the words of the staff and students, gleaned from letters, other documents and from interviews, to tell the story of a place that had clearly been special to many, including the authors themselves. The King’s House itself, has, in may ways, changed hardly at all of course. Those Volunteers who work in the back rooms (or, more accurately, the attics) will be familiar with the corridor doors that still retain the numbers of what were bedrooms, as well as offices, from the former era. I am told they could be very cold indeed, back in the day…..

The more recent buildings, handsome red brick apartment blocks that lie between the King’s House and the river, were originally accommodation blocks for the students, but also music rooms, dance and drama and art spaces and so on. Other buildings in the Close, and beyond, were also used to house students as numbers swelled.

One of things that made the college special was its association with, and proximity to, the Cathedral. One moving story was of a student, in relatively recent times, who, unable to sleep on her last night in college, got up and walked into the Close in the early hours. She found a door into the Cathedral was unlocked and walked up the nave one last time as a student, barefoot and in her pyjamas, full of wonder, as always, in that magical place.

The story of the college was, of course, a story of things changing as time past – a woman’s place in society, the effect of war, how people dressed (for the students it was gym slips to academic gowns to the uniform of jeans and T shirts) but Jenny and Anne had clearly found that in some ways nothing changed at all. Girls came, and left as young women. Most full of hope, making the most of their opportunity, enjoying their time here and going in to the world to do their bit.